Stepping Stones
by kaztsar
Summary: Running for their lives in the depth of the Chinese wilderness, Ranma and his father seek shelter in a cave. Unfortunantly, a 900 year old forbidden technique was used, and now Ranma and his father are trapped in a strange land. Ranma
1. Prolog & Chapter 1

Disclaimer 

I do not own Ranma ½, it is published by Viz Media, and is a work by Rumiko Takahashi.

Likewise, nor do I own Naruto, which is a work by Masashi Kishimoto, and also published by Viz Media.

This work is for the enjoyment for all who read it, and is not for profit any any sort of way. 

**Stepping stones: Prolog**

**Setting up the board**

Two figures charged through the forest. One, a young girl in her early teens with bright red hair braided in a pigtail, wearing an oversized old and dirty gi, the other being a panda. In pursuit, a young girl, with lavender hair tied up in buns carrying two bladed swords, stalked the two figures.

"Damnit, it was just some lousy food! Besides, I won it fair and square! Damn crazy chick," muttered Ranma, the young red haired girl running alongside the panda. It wasn't the first time this thought ran through her head, nor will it be the last time, as they decide to take refuge running into a cavern at the base of a hill!

As they entered the entrance, Ranma got this odd feeling in the back of her head, and instantly ducked. She was barely quick enough to avoid the swipe from severing her head from her neck, though not so quick enough to escape the severing of the pigtail her hair was tied up in. Quickly, both girl and panda ran in the cavern, seeking shelter.

Weary from the chase, the lavender haired girl, with the buns in her hair swipes at the entrance of the cave with a large wooden mace, causing the entrance to cave in on it self. The lavender haired girl, called by Xian Pu by the other clans-woman of her group cupped both her hands together.

"This is a three thousand year old Amazon technique. Legend has tells the story of a fox spirit plaguing the neighboring village of Nii Xangfon. It took the form of a beautiful young woman and seduced the governor of the village." A golden sphere appeared between the hands of Xian Pu. "This very technique was used to seal the fox spirit to this very day, **Banishing No Jutsu!**" As she said these words, she thrusted her hands towards the rock fall covering the entrance of the cavern. Black pigment shot up from the ground, making runes and arcane symbols along the caverns vault.

Xian Pu grimly looked at her handy work. "Yay! I get to go home! Great grandmother will be very impressed! Not even she learned this old Amazon technique!"

With a sword in one hand, wooden mace in the other, Xian Pu merrily skipped her way back home.

**Stepping Stones: **

**Chapter 1 Crazy chick say what?**

* * *

Four months later… 

"Report," said the man sitting at the desk. His faced was wrinkled by time and experience. He is known as "the Professor", because of his vast knowledge and experience, he is the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi.

Almost immediately, a masked figure appeared wearing a mask in the shape of a hamster. He was a member of among the most elite of the Third Hokage's ninjas. "The stranger appears to have stopped moving at the moment. The stranger is female, approximately 4'8" and appears to be in her young teens. She is apparently a well-trained taijutsuist, her knowledge of genjutsu and ninjutsu are as of yet, unknown. She spends most of her time training in taijutsu, showing an approximately chuunin level proficiently. She is traveling with a panda, possibly a summons. It is apparently been training the girl in taijutsu, and has possibly jounin class proficiency. The fact that for the past week since we started tracking her, she has yet to unsummon the creature, questions the validity of my theory."

"If she wasn't the one to summon the panda, then perhaps it was a sort special summons," replied a third figure.

"Please explain, Asuma," replied the third Hokage.

"Well, if the summoner was strong enough, and had a pretty good reason, then the summoning animal could have been summoned for a length of time or until certain orders have been fully carried out," explained Asuma.

"Such as…"

"Such as making sure if someone was safe, especially if that someone could be their daughter." Said Asuma.

"So, you think she might have been orphaned, and while the girl could still be in danger, the animal won't be able to return, if this theory is correct, then whoever summoned the panda would be really powerful, or the girl is really important. Perhaps a daughter of a noble," replied the Third Hokage. "Though until we know for sure, I'm afraid we have no choice but to label her as an enemy combatant until we know for sure."

"There's another possibility, and certainly a long shot, but we can't just assume that she's here on a mission," reasoned Asuma. "She could be here for the chuunin entrance exams. The panda might be something like one of the Inuzuka dogs." Turning to the Anbu agent, he continued, "Did you happen to get a good read on her charka reserves?"

The figure in the hamster mask shook his head and replied, "Unfortunately, no, if I got too close to her, she seemed to become aware of my presence."

"Which could be an indication she's well trained in chakra manipulation, possibly a genjutsu specialist."

The Third Hokage paused a moment in thought, before turning to his son, "Asuma, I want you to take your team, and assess the risk she might be to Konohagakure. If she presents a risk to the village, confront and eliminate the threat. If she presents no threat, then let her be."

"So, you just want me to walk on up and ask her what her intentions are?"

"I expect you to do whatever you deem as necessary. At the moment, consider the mission a B-class, possibly an A-classed mission, considering we don't know the full extent of her abilities."

* * *

Ranma and his… well, her father was having a spar. "Damnit, old man, this is all your fault!" Ranma was letting off a little frustration at the moment. 

Ranma ducked a swipe from the old panda's paw, and countered with a sweep kick, which her father easily leaped over. They have been going at this for a while now. "If it wasn't for you're stomach, that crazy purple haired chick wouldn't be following us, and I wouldn't have lost the dragon whisker!"

Unfortunately, having let her anger get the better of her, she over extended one of her punches, which was all her father needed to take advantage in order to throw her off balance. 'Oh, what a miserable son I have, to let his emotions so easily cloud his judgment! Has he learned nothing in our travels," thought Genma sadly, 'I'm never going to retire at this rate!'

Ranma Saotome, just 14 years old and already a master level practitioner of many schools of martial arts, was thrown into a tree rather hard. His father took him on a training trip when he was just 6 years old, and was a prodigy of a student. His father was a very proficient teacher in the "Art" as they like to call it. Though, a proficient teacher does not always make a very good father.

Six months earlier, they swum to China from Japan in order to continue Ranma's education, that education being the ways of the martial artist. They were unfortunate to happen across Jusenkyo, a cursed valley in China that contained springs that, if you happen to fall into one, you would turn into whatever happened to have fallen in it previously. Now, whenever Ranma comes into contact with cold water, he turns into a she. Only with contact with warm water can change her into her true gender.

Which is doubly unfortunate for Ranma is doubly coursed. Not soon after he received the curse, he got another one. One day, after being separated from his father, while in female form, he bravely stopped a thief who stole a bowl porridge, from a restaurantier. As reward for herself, she finished off the bowl herself, for she was quite hungry at the time.

The porridge happened to have been made with the stock that was made from the dragon whisker. A powerful medicinal ingredient used in Chinese cooking. It has no effect on women, but if a man happened to eat it, it fulfills… "a certain ambition." Fortunately the effects have been sealed, by using another dragon whisker and tying it around his braided hair.

Which is triply unfortunate because it was this braid tied with the dragon whisker that was used as proof of the demise of the girl who dishonored the young Amazon, Xian Pu in combat? So now, if she happens to try to revert back to her former gender, the dragon whisker curse will manifest.

Quadruply unfortunate if you count the figure they tripped over in the cave while trying to escape said homicidal girl.

So once again, Ranma sulked as she banged a stake into the ground with the hammer end of a small hatchet while setting up their tent.

* * *

Somewhere… 

Ryouga was currently wandering around, lost. It wasn't too unusual for him to be lost, so he wasn't really all that worried. His one thought, destroy the happiness of the guy who ruined his life, and maybe give a stern talking to with that girl who tripped over him.

His two thoughts, destroy the happiness of the guy who ruined his life, an give a stern talking to the girl who tripped over him while he was sleeping, and perhaps kills that other girl who pushed him into the cursed spring…

His three thoughts…

* * *

Asuma was traveling through the forests of Konohagakure with his three genin, or lower ninjas. 

"So what are we doing here again?" asked one of the shinobi.

"Well, Shikamaru, we're here to assess a possible threat. Basically a meet and greet assignment. If she's an enemy ninja, she'll probably go ahead and retreat. She's most likely a genin with chunin level taijutsu. It's possible she might be here for the chuunin selection exams, and got separate from the rest of her group!"

"We're after a girl, how troublesome. What's this about the chuunin entrance exams," queried Shikamaru.

"Ah yes, the selection exams, I've actually been meaning to talk to all of you about that."

That statement brought attention to all three of the genin.

"Well, I think that you're all on your way to becoming elite shinobi of Konohagakure, the next step would be the chuunin entrance exams. I was wondering if all three of you wanted to go ahead and take them."

"Eh? I don't know, do you think we're ready for them?" Asked Chouji.

"Wow! The Chuunin entrance exam already! First year rookies rarely get to enter the chunnin exams, eat that, fathead!" crackle Ino, the only female of the group.

"I don't know, it seems way too troublesome," answered Shikamaru.

Asuma just scratched his hairy chin, "Well, it's kinda too late. I already signed all three of you up for it. So you're going to have to take it no matter what!"

"Then why the hell did you bother ask if we wanted to take them then?"

Asuma's genin team watched the redheaded girl dressed in some sort of oversized white training outfit and her panda. Their observations consisted of mainly watching the girl, and panda engage in some sort of arcane version of taijutsu, of the likes that none of them witnessed before. They figured that the best time to confront the girl would be after her workout, when both the girl and her panda were worn out from the day's training.

The group assembled together to form their plan.

"Ok, this is how we are going to play it. Chouji, you will approach them from their back on the west side. Stay well hidden though, wait for any sort of confrontation. Ino, you take the south side, if it comes to actual combat; I want you and Chouji to target the redhead. Shikamaru, you're going to take the north. If things come down to a fight, I'll take the panda, go wherever you're needed most, backing up either Ino and Chouji, or me if I need it. Use your shadow bind jutsu only if necessary. We don't know if she is in fact here for the exam, and we don't want to show off any special technique beforehand. Remember; do not engage unless I give you the signal. Everyone know what they're suppose to do?"

Asuma's genins gave an affirmative nod, and then they each disappeared, in order to surround Ranma.

Asuma slowly walked slowly towards the red-haired girl. Looking closely at the girl for the first time, Asuma took note the state the girl was in. She was dirty, very dirty, and thin as well, wearing clothes that are possibly a size or two big for her. It's possible that she hasn't bathed in weeks, or ever.

* * *

Ranma noticed someone walk out of the thickets. She turned to his father, "Easy now, he doesn't look like anyone we ripped off recently, he could just be passing through. Just in case, be ready to bolt!" 

The man started talking, it didn't seem to be in Chinese. How far off course could they have gone?

"Excuse me, girl, we are ninjas of Konohagakure, we'd like to ask you what your business here is," asked Asuma, tensing his body for either fight or flight. His body started to ease when she started speaking in a language that he's never heard before. "Shit," he muttered, "what the hell am I suppose to do now?"

Shikamaru was in position up in a tree, when he heard the strange girl start talking in a strange language. Great, he knew this was going to be troublesome from the start. Suddenly, it looked like the girl was looking directly at him. Then she glanced at Ino. It looks like she hasn't noticed Chouji yet. Well, it looks like their cover is blown, but that doesn't mean that they totally lost their advantage. There were 7 ways this scenario could turn out. Shikamaru quickly signaled to Ino.

She was spotted. It didn't look like the girl saw her, but Ino's presence was definitely spotted. She saw Shikamaru signal her, and then signaled Chouji. Ino frowned, Shikamaru never struck her as being crazy before!

Ranma frowned. They were surrounded. He caught movements to his left and right. Most likely someone was covering the rear as well. Not to mention that bearded guy didn't understand what he said when he called him an asshole. Well, looks like Ranma was going to have to handle this delicately. 

Asuma cursed to himself. First his team was spotted, which wasn't a big problem; he already figured that they were going to be spotted anyway. Shikamaru and Ino obviously had a very good reason for breaking their cover. Whatever it might be will have to wait for the moment because the red-haired girl just suddenly started to attack him.

Asuma noted that Shikamaru already caught the panda in a shadowbind technique. Ino already had a kunai out ready. Asuma had to admit, the girl was very good at taijutsu, however, she has yet to demonstrate her ninjutsu or genjutsu abilities!

Ino tensed up. It looks like Sarutobi sensei had the fight under control. He was obviously better, and what the girl was getting through didn't seem to have much effect on her sensei. Ouch, spoke too soon. That quick in the head had to hurt! Then the girl punched him in the stomach, and he was doubled over. Ino then panicked, she decided to use her mind exchange technique on the girl, then all she remembered seeing from that point on was a pair of eyes, and then darkness.

Genma frowned. What did he do to deserve to have such a worthless son to be beaten so easily? Well, once they escaped, he'd definitely needed to retrain the boy. Oh well, time to play panda for now.

* * *

Shikamaru went over to check on Ino. Once the girl fainted, all fight left the panda. Sarutobi-sensei was there just as Ino regained consciousness. "What happened?" 

"I… I don't know, I tried to use the mind exchange jutsu, but it must have backfired or something. So, what do we do now?"

"Well, we haven't yet determined if she's a threat or not. Since she doesn't speak the language, interrogation is out at the moment. Search the camp, maybe we find a clue to what she's here for. Bind the animal until we're done," answered Asuma.

After searching the camp, they found some tools, food, clothes, cooking utensils, and scrolls. The scrolls were in another language, so they were still unable to determine the risk the redhead presented. For all they knew, she could be on a scouting mission, mapping out the layout for an invasion of some sort. As unlikely as that might be, there was still a possible threat. "Pack up her gear, looks like we're going to have to bring her back to the village, perhaps there's someone there that will be able to translate for us. We can use the animal to carry everything." Asuma frowned. It was going to take longer to get back home because of the slow pace. If she had any friends around, they would be sitting ducks.

* * *

Ryouga sneezed. Must be Ranma's fault! Just another reason to beat down his eternal rival! Damn, when did he arrive in the desert? 

Chouji was snacking on some potato crisps. So far this assignment was a piece of cake. Cake sounded pretty good right now as well. His culinary bliss was interrupted by the unconscious redhead at the end of his figure tips with his last potato crisp in her mouth.

Shikamaru was walking peacefully along, when suddenly he heard his best friend and team mate give an angry yell, "You Bitch!" Shikamaru's head swiveled around to see the red-haired chick devouring Chouji's last potato chip. He readied his shadow bind jutsu once more that day, when the thought, "this is not going to end well," passed through his mind.

Ino saw Shikamaru use his shadowbind jutsu on Chouji, most likely so he wouldn't hurt their prisoner too badly. Ino decided to hold the tied up redhead because she looked liked she was about to kick Chouji.

"Calm down, Chouji, calm down… the girl's probably just a bit hungry. Why don't we just stop for a bit of lunch before heading back to the village," said Asuma.

That certainly cheered Chouji up!

They quickly made some lunch. Asuma was about to signal that they'd untie the girl for a moment to allow her to use her hands to eat. Unfortunately, she never gave them the chance, as she dove head first into the food.

Yeah, Ranma knew they were staring at her. She didn't care… this was the first real food she had in months that her father couldn't steal from her.

* * *

Author's notes: 

06Jan08:

Corrected stuff... added stuff... did stuff... still in draft format.

17Dec07:

This idea was conceived through a passing thought, as most of what I've done has been conceived. It was just the image of Ranma-chan, riding a panda, while carrying a spear. Since then, the story has mutated quite a bit, as I have yet to figure out a way to have Ranma-chan riding Genma, while carrying a spear.

An aspect of the story I would like to point out, is a non sequitur observation that really has no bearing to anything really. It just seemed that you can write a story, using Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji, while drawing a parallel to the scarecrow, the tin woodsman, and the cowardly lion from the _Wizard of Oz_.

Let me explain:

In the movie, the _Wizard of Oz_, the scarecrow character is one who is suppose to be like a brain. However, in one of my late night pondering, I was thinking—the scarecrow is really just representative of someone seeking knowledge. Its not that he's not smart, it's just that he's not sure if he's smart enough—but is always seeking knowledge.

Likewise, the tin woodsman isn't really heartless, it's just that he doesn't know love. Whereas Ino is always seeking a hopeless kind of love, never really giving a concern for what she already has.

As far as the cowardly lion, that is left for Chouji to fill. Chouji, in this story, is going to be portrayed as a coward, in order to mask that cowardness, he eats. He's strong, but he knows that, compared to his teammates, he's not sure if he can measure up, but through the course of the story, he finds the courage that he thought he was missing.

Which, I guess, means that Ranma is Dorthy. A character displaced from home. And of course, Genma is Toto…

Yeah… I know I'm stretching it pretty far… but I'm sure it'll turn out ok. (I hope)

Naruto, isn't going to appear in the beginning of the story, however, there was this other thought I had.

You can draw a parallel from Freud's idea of the subconscious with Naruto.

Bear with me for just a sec….

The Kyuubi is a representation of the Id in man, the bas natural instinct to survive, for sex, and for pleasure.

Counterbalanced by Naruto's nindo, which would represent the superego, the moralistic ideal that is in direct conflict of the Id.

And Naruto himself would represent the Ego.

I'm not sure how I'm going to do it yet, or even if it will be noticeable, but those are the rules I set up in this fiction.

Anyway, this is still technically a draft—I'll be doing some traveling, and I wanted to post it before I left, because I won't be near a computer for most of the time.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer

I do not own Ranma ½, it is published by Viz Media, and is a work by Rumiko Takahashi.

Likewise, nor do I own Naruto, which is a work by Masashi Kishimoto, and also published by Viz Media.

This work is for the enjoyment for all who read it, and is not for profit any any sort of way.

**Stepping Stones: Chapter 2 The interrogation of Ranma Saotome,**

**Or, how I stopped worrying and learned to love the hatchet**

* * *

"It is nice to see you return, I trust that the mission went well," asked the Third.

Asuma just gave his father a tired look. "The mission hasn't been technically complete. Right now, the girl and panda are being held in custody. The girl apparently doesn't speak the language. Our linguists and code-breakers have come up with zilch, and I feel the need to shower ever time I have to step in that interrogation room with her. Seriously, she smells so bad even the stones are choking, it's all I can do not to just hose her off right then and there, but I'm afraid that it'll only make her smell even worse. Ibiki would be quite nonplussed with having to disinfect the interrogation room as well!" Asuma paused for a moment before speaking again, "I'm glad we're moving her to one of the security apartments, then she can finally be able to wash that stink off of her."

The Third took a moment to contemplate the situation as he closed his eyes and rested his chin over his folded hands. "There is this one jutsu that might work. It hasn't been used in a very long time though. I'll have one of my assistance check the library archives to find the lexicon no jutsu."

"The lexicon no jutsu?"

"Yes… it's an old jutsu, one of the most ancient jutsus in fact, that will temporarily allow communication between two people who don't speak the same language. It's fairly limited, but it should suit our purposes for the moment. As soon as we find it, I want you to learn it," said the Third Hokage.

"Me? Why me?"

"Well, this is still your mission. If you want to complete it, you're going to have to question her yourself. Anyway, it should take a while to find the jutsu, so there's no reason why you're team can't train to get ready for the upcoming chuunin entrance exams.

Asuma frowned. After the way his team behaved, he wasn't sure anymore that they were ready for the entrance exam. He also knew he wouldn't get paid until his report was finished. "Ok, fine… we'll stop by tomorrow around noon. I scheduled a practice tomorrow at 10."

"Ok, that is all then," said Asuma's father.

Asuma left the Third Hokage's office. "Well, at least I get to shower now."

* * *

The next day, Asuma had met with team ten to discuss the previous day's mission. Asuma would have much preferred to have this discussion on the previous day. However, do to the complicated circumstances of actually taking the red-headed girl into custody, the hour of pointless interrogation that yielded completely nothing, and the 3 hours of subsequent paperwork that followed that admitted the girl into the secured housing, Asuma was just in no mood to lecture his team.

Asuma looked around at all his genins and sighed, "Could any of you explain to me just what the hell you thought you were doing yesterday?"

All three members of team 10 looked at their sensei in a bit of shock, finally, as if by some sort of silent agreement, Shikamaru answered for all of them. "Well, the girl spotted Ino and me, I figured it was pointless to stay hidden, and figured that by moving into the open, Ino or I would be in better position and have a faster reaction time just in case."

Asuma sighed, the reasoning was actually pretty good, however their actions still compromised the mission outcome. "Shikamaru, I already figured out that she would be able to detect you. She's already been able to shown that she could detect if one of the ANBU were following her. The purpose of this mission wasn't supposed to be to capture her. It was to assess her threat. By taking a more aggressive position, you forced her to act in a more aggressive manner. Now, because of you're recklessness, we have to keep her wrapped up behind lock and key. If we could have convinced her to come peacefully, then things might have turned out rather different." Asuma sighed, "but I guess now we'll have to be left to wonder. Shikamaru, someday you too will be leading your own squad. Remember, the lives of the people under you will be in your hands."

Asuma continued, "We got lucky yesterday, our target was already tired, and thanks to some sort of reaction from Ino's move, didn't put up much of a fight. I've had the opportunity to spar with Maito Gai a few times, though she's not up to that level yet, but her fists felt like cinderblocks!"

"Yeah," cried Ino, "that last one she gave must have been really hard! I've never seen you take a blow like that!"

Asuma looked at Ino, "the last hit? That actually wasn't a single hit, but rather almost a hundred single hits in succession hitting me in the same place over and over again. A fearsome technique in itself, and something I wasn't quite prepared for! In fact, I'm still a little sore from that last attack," Asuma said, while unconsciously rubbing his torso, right below his chest. His genin squad looked horrified as the impact of such a technique could have done to one of them. They were sure that the jounin's vest must have absorbed much of the impact. "I'm sure she could have done much worse if she wasn't so tired though. I'm actually more surprised about her reaction to your move, Ino. I've never seen that sort of reaction!"

All eyes pointed to Ino now, she might have cowered a little bit from their gaze, but the fact was, she actually rather enjoyed the attention, and appearing to be a rather subdued little girl, also had their own advantages. "Well, I figured that if I took over her mind, then it would be easier to bind her up or something. I've felt resistance when trying to take someone's mind before, but usually it doesn't result in a backlash like that. I can't explain it any better then that."

"Well," said Asuma, ready to change the subject, "we still got another week before the entrance exams. Is there anything any of you want to work on?"

Genma glowered in his enclosure on the Inuzaki estate. Sure, he was being treated well, but the looks the dogs were giving him were just downright creepy. It also felt like eyes were watching him, even when he didn't see anything else around. Escape will certainly not be easy, especially when he didn't know where his son was being kept. He just had to hope, and wait until somebody let something out unintentionally. If not, he'd have to cut his losses, and free himself. He might have to unlock… certain techniques that he long ago sealed himself, but self preservation always took the highest priority with Genma. He could always come back for his son later. He always did.

At least he had plenty of food to eat until then. He was sure they weren't doing anything to harshly to his son, so he could afford to wait a little.

It took them two days to find the lexicon no jutsu scroll, another day and a half to learn the technique. He hoped that the girl would have bathed in the meantime.

The technique, itself, wasn't that hard to learn, though the chakra it used was just astounding. Never the less, it would finally allow him to talk to their guest. Later on, he would feel proud that he would be apart of possibly being a part of some sort of compact with new hidden village. One that possibly nobody else knew about. It was certainly possible, it was a big world after all, and it would be ignorant to think that there weren't any other countries past the great oceans. That would be for another day though, for now, he needed to know what the girl was doing here.

* * *

Asuma entered ANBU headquarters, and went to the security checkpoint and handed a young chuunin his authorization scroll. "I'm here to see prisoner 0895." The chuunin, who's name was Mika, wanted to someday, herself join the ANBU. Though their standards were high, she was lucky to get a sort of internship at guard post to the ANBU headquarters. Sometimes she wondered if she wanted to join the ANBU to ensure the safety of her village, after all, she could do that as just a regular ninja, or the fact that being an ANBU would get her closer to that sexy Ibiki Morino! God, scars were so sexy! In the end, though, she knew she really wanted to be ANBU for the prestige, and the fear that she could cause by being apart of one of the most feared ninja groups in Konohagekure. Considering how cute she thought she was, it hardly struck fear in the hearts of enemy ninja, after all. The only thing she hasn't decided yet, would be what kind of animal mask she would take. She liked bunnies, but they would hardly strike fear in the heart of evildoers. Maybe, she thought, she would like to be a mouse!

Mika opened up the scroll and confirmed that he was in fact, here to interrogate prisoner 0895. "The prisoner is on the east wing, in the secured apartment ward, her room number is 309, on the third floor. From there, you will bring prisoner 0895 to interrogation room three, on the fourth floor of the west wing." Mika filed the scroll away and handed Asuma another scroll, "these are your interrogation forms. Please show them to the third floor wardens, and they will supply an escort for you and your prisoner."

Asuma thanked the young chuunin, and was about to be on his way, "Good luck," she said, "I've heard a lot of things about prisoner 0895. She bites, so please be careful!"

* * *

Asuma was walking down the hallway of the third floor in the east wing. To each of his side were two chuunin ninja. Most would be surprised to find that most of the people who work at ANBU headquarters, where not in fact, ANBU. The ANBU were actually much too valuable to be posted as guards, and there are also very few people who would be foolish enough to try to infiltrate ANBU headquarters. The ANBU handled the security in the more sensitive of areas, but for the most part, there were chuunin level ninjas, as well as even some prospective genin who do most of the grunt work, as well as their own medic-nin and accounting-nin, and even a few bureaucratic-nin to handle the everyday workings of ANBU headquarters. They even had their own janitor-nin who would come in every night to clean the place up. Their specialty was removing blood stains.

As Asuma was being escorted, with his two accompany ninjas, Asuma could not help but to notice that the two chuunin looked nervous, somehow a bit, apprehensive about having to escort him to the room 309, to prisoner 0895. "So, I hear she bites," Asuma said somewhat jokingly, in order to break the tension.

"Yeah, she bites… and kicks…" the chuunin guard to his left remarked.

"She likes to throw things too," added the guard to his right. Neither one of them looked the better from Asuma's remark, so he decided to add nothing further.

They approach room 309. The guard that was on his left side remarked, "I don't know what you hope to get out of her, we haven't been able to understand a single word since she got here." He put his hand on Asuma's shoulder, as if to impart some sort of empathic gesticulation. "I'm just glad I don't have to do it," and with that, they unlocked the door.

There was a lot of screaming, and shouting, and there was also a lot of things thrown. The actions seemed too defensive, like she just wanted to be left alone, but there was also an underlying fear, as well as a great deal of anger behind it too. Asuma needed to talk to her, and to do that, he needed to get her into the interrogation room in order to perform the lexicon no jutsu.

Asuma made a series of handseals. It was a complicated genjutsu, and genjutsu was never a specialty for Asuma. That was more of Kurenai's thing. The genjutsu had its effect though, and prisoner 0895 slowly calmed down before falling into a deep sleep. "Bind her hands, then we'll bring her to interrogation room 3."

* * *

Ranma slowly, and quite uncomfortly came into consciousness. The light hurt her eyes, but when she tried to use her hands to shield herself from the bright onslaught, she noticed that her hands were bound in a manacle, that was looped through a U-bolt on a table. The room was quite small, and there, in front of her, was the man that was responsible for her capture!

He made some weird hand signs, and then touched her forehead with two fingers. Ranma saw nothing but lights, as her vision cleared, she yelled, "What the hell was that for?"

Ranma knew, from previous experience that the stranger wouldn't understand her, so it was to her complete and utter surprise when he answered to her own understanding, "I just wanted to talk."

At first, Ranma was surprised, but he wasn't really going to let that stop her from his righteous fury, "It was you!" she blathered, "you're the one that did this to me! What did I ever do to you? What the heck was it that you did to me you bastard!" That wasn't what she said, but that was the closest thing that Asuma could understand, even if they were now speaking in the same language.

"Now, hold on, exactly what are you talking about now?"

"As if you didn't know, I'm not sure what the hell you did, but I've been bleeding since I got here!"

Asuma carefully scanned the redhead, but couldn't detect any real injury, "You don't appear to be hurt…"

Ranma fumed. Well, if her capture was going to be dense about it, she might as well be blunt. She didn't remember getting hit down there, but the blood totally ruined her gi pants. With a yank on her manacles, Ranma broke out of her bonds and stood up. Ranma knew that this would certainly cause an alarm in whomever it was that imprisoned her, but she was too irate to really give a damn. Ranma stood up, lifted up the front of her gi jacket and showed him the blood stains. "Four days it's been like that! I don't know what the hell you did, but this can't be natural!"

Asuma cursed to himself. It just couldn't be possible. "We could have you looked at by some our medic-nins. They'll probably be more useful in this situation then I would." No way in hell did he want to explain the wonders of human development to this girl. "We might as well also give you a full physical checkup as well, to see if there are any other problems. Then we can get back to the task at hand."

An arrogant smirk appeared on Ranma's face. That smirk would not last for very long.

* * *

Asuma thought it was prudent to wait outside of the examining room. He was leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette when a medic-nin in her mid forties walked out of the examining room. "This is a non-smoking area, I'll have you know, Asuma."

"Wonderful to see you too, Rho, tell me about the kid." Asuma said as he snuffed out his cigarette on the bottom of his sandal.

"She just had her period," Rho deadpanned. "It's later then most girls her age, but that could be attributed to the apparent malnutrition she was suffering from."

"Malnutrition? She hits like a mule, how can she be suffering from malnutrition?"

"Malnutrition doesn't always mean that a person is weak, and underfed. It just means that she's not getting all the vitamins and minerals that she needs to for a healthy lifestyle. Most likely, she's using more energy then she's taking in, and she's sweating off all of the essential minerals and electrolytes, she should be fine in a couple of days. I have her on an IV right now, but I want her to start taking a vitamin supplement." Rho handed Asuma a bottle of multivitamins as well as two tubes of ointment. "She also has lice and a yeast infection. I advised her that she should wash herself more, and change her underwear more then once a week. I had to add a light sedative on a piggyback after I told her. It's been a rather slow day, so you can use the room for your interrogation if you want."

As the mediic-nin started walking away Asuma said, "Rho, you did talk to her about her period, right?"

Rho looked at Asuma with a sour face, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did, and you're going to owe me big for it." With that, she walked to her office.

* * *

Asuma walked into the room, and there was a far off look in the young red-head's eyes. "So, how are you doing, kid?"

It took a minute for Ranma to refocus her eyes onto Asuma, "How am I doing? How do you think I'm doing? I just found out I'm gonna bleed from my crotch every month for the rest of my life? How would you feel if you knew you were going to bleed down there?"

"I think that scenario is rather unlikely for me."

"I thought that scenario was also rather unlikely for me too, but that didn't stop it from happening!"

"Ok, ok, I get the point. Anyway, before we get started, could you at least tell me you're name?"

"Started? Started with what? My name is Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome School of Anything-Goes School of martial arts. What's you're name?"

"Asuma Sarotobi, I'm a jounin of the Hidden Village of the Leaves," Asuma replied. Asuma was taken off guard for a second when the young girl, Ranma offered to shake his hand, but took it anyway. "You can call me Asuma then."

"Then you can just call me Ranma. So, what's the big idea attacking me like that?"

Asuma inwardly sighed, he was the one who was supposed to be interrogating, after all. "We weren't planning on attacking you, we just wanted to what you're business in our territory was."

"If you weren't planning on attacking me, then why did you're people move in attack position? I'd have an easier time believing if your people just stayed where they were. As for as my business goes, I'm lost. I'm just trying to find my way home."

"Home," asked Asuma, "and where exactly would home be?"

This actually gave Ranma a moment of pause. Exactly where was home? He's been on the road so long, he had forgotten completely where he came from. "I…" Ranma muttered, "I'm not sure…"

Asuma raised an eyebrow at this, she had to be hiding something. "What do you mean you're not sure?"

"Well, it's just been me and pops for so long…"

"Pops?"

"Oh, you know, that little black and white bear I was with," said Ranma as her eyes started tracking a small beetle flying around the room.

"The panda? You were raised by the panda?"

Asuma saw the surprised look on the young girls face. It was the look of surprise of having revealed something she shouldn't have. Was the relationship between her and the panda part of some family secret or something? Perhaps it had to do with a bloodline that he knew nothing about. He waited for the red-head to continue.

"Yeah," Ranma said, slow and carefully, "it's been just me and pops…"

"You mean the panda," clarified Asuma

"The one and the same," said Ranma, her eyes still following the beetle.

"What about your parents; your mother, your father," asked Asuma.

"My mother?" Ranma asked. Did he even have a mother? He couldn't remember even if he tried. And he did try, he tried really hard. He couldn't even summon up a vision of what she could have looked like. "I don't know if I have a mom." Ranma paused in mid thought, "I bet the old panda knows."

Shit, Asuma thought, this girl must be some sort of orphan. To go through her whole life being raised by nothing but a panda, something just sounded totally wrong. "How did you learn to live? For that matter, how did you eat, or even learn to talk? Can you read and write?"

"I can read and write just fine," Ranma answered with a little bit of anger in her voice. Sure, he might not have had the most traditional sort of education, but pops always made sure he was learned. "As for how we lived, we were always just sorta wandering around and training."

"Training? Training for what?"

Ranma paused, why was he training again, "Uhhh… because I have to keep my family art alive, I think, and the only people I know who practice it are me and the panda. There was also something about being a man among men, but I'm not really sure what that means."

"So, all you've been doing is wander around and training?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"What about food? Clothing," asked Asuma.

"Oh, that? I don't know. The panda provided most of it. All I had to worry about was training," replied Ranma, truthfully.

Asuma wrote some notes down on his paperwork. "Ok, Ranma, I think we're done for now. Oh, you said you can read and write, correct?" Asuma took out a blank scroll, "would you mind writing something down for me? It could be anything."

Ranma took the blank scroll, as well as the pen that Asuma offered him, and tried to think of what to write. Ranma took a little too much time for Asuma to care for, so Asuma said, "You can write anything, hey, why not just write down your name?" Well, Ranma could certainly do that!

Asuma looked at Ranma's writing. It was in a script that he has never seen before. Asuma wondered again if the panda was more then he seemed to be. Was it just a really smart animal, or was it an actual summons, or could it be more? Perhaps it was some sort of possession jutsu gone horribly wrong?

Either way, Asuma did what he was suppose to do. He determined that Ranma Saotome, was no threat to the peace and tranquility of Konohagakure.

Now, it was time to get paid!

* * *

Author's notes:

This is still in draft form.

I got impatient again. Haven't heard anything from my beta-readers yet.

Original posting: 06Jan08


	3. Recapitulation 1 new

Disclaimer

I do not own Ranma ½, it is published by Viz Media, and is a work by Rumiko Takahashi.

Likewise, nor do I own Naruto, which is a work by Masashi Kishimoto, and also published by Viz Media.

**Stepping Stones: Recapitulation 1**

Four months earlier.

Ranma ducked, and narrowly missed being decapitated by a hair. Quickly, he, now a she ran desperately through the cavern, almost tripping over a rock or something. That's when the cavern started to cave in.

It was dark, "I guess we can't leave through that way," murmured Ranma.

Genma held up a sign, unfortunately it was too dark to read. Ranma just grabbed her father by the paw, "come on, panda-baka, let's see if there's a back way out of this place. It was either that, or they'd have to do actual work and dig themselves out, and neither one of them wanted to do that. Especially if it meant that they'd have to be face to face with the violent chick.

Neither one of them noticed a small piece of paper fall from Genma's pack, as Ranma grabbed him.

The duo walked in darkness through condensation-laden tunnels. They held hands, so as to not get separated, but eventually, they both felt a breeze. They quickened their pace in anticipation, though it didn't seem to be getting any brighter. Finally the smell of pine hit their noses, and they reached the end of the cavern. Both father and son were troubled, because it was almost noon when Shampoo caught up with them. They couldn't have been traveling for that long, right? It should have been only about 20 minutes? Right?

The moon was full and honeyed colored, and spied them through the trees illuminating them on a path further and further from dark wet tunnel that have at once brought them into a whole new world. They were, of course completely unaware of their journey through dimensions, for them, it was about 15 kilometres. The appearance of conifers should have keyed them into something not being right, but they just wanted to get as much distance as they could, away from the hills, unless Shampoo decides to finish the job, of course.

They traveled the night in silence, through trails and trees and unintentional circles, until they were confident that the buxom Amazon had no idea where they could be. They bedded on some moss banks, not wanting to actually break camp incase they were found out.

Unfortunately morning found them quicker then either of them anticipated. They made a quick breakfast of rice and pine nuts. They had long ran out of dried meats and spices, so they ate it plain. That's when, to Ranma's horror, she noticed that he lost the dragon whisker.

"What's the big deal? So you lost your hair tie, stop whining like a little girl or I'll have to buy you a bow for a replacement," Genma said, not understanding the true value of the dragon whisker as he poured the last of the hot water on Ranma's head.

That's when it happened. Ranma's hair began to grow uncontrollably. It was already down to her ankles before he could dunk the water from his canteen over his head. "Damnit pop, this is why I need the dragon whisker."

Genma's eyes grew large, "What the hell just happened?"

So, Ranma had to explain to his father just how she obtained the dragon whisker, and how he would have to find another one now that he lost it. "Damnit boy, that porridge done you no good, you could have just given it to me. I got no hair left to lose," Genma laughed as he rubbed his hand over his bald head. "But now we're faced with an obstacle."

"You mean besides being chased by some crazy chick?"

"Yeah, beside being chased by some crazy ch-"

"… and being hopelessly lost?"

"… yeah, and being hopelessly lost." Genma paused for a moment in contemplation. "I guess the only thing we have to do is find a dragon."

Ranma smacked his father over the head with a pot, "Are you crazy? How are we suppose to fight a dragon for his whisker?"

"Fight? Who said anything abut fighting a dragon? Have I taught you nothing over the years, all we have to do is find one, wait till it falls asleep, sneak up on it, and steal a whisker! It'll be no problem! Ha ha ha ha!"

"So, where are we suppose to find a dragon, pops," asked Ranma.

That shut Genma up for almost a minute, "Shut up, boy, it's time to train!"

After a quick stretch and spar, they broke camp and continued on. That's how they realized, they were not just hopelessly lost, but royally lost. They have lost sight of all of their landmarks. They were approaching some mountains in the distance, and figured moving towards higher ground would give them a better view of the area.

It took them almost a week to finally get to the mountains. Granted, they weren't really in a rush to get there, and did spend a couple of days on more training, both physical and forms practice, they did eventually get there. Along they way, they caught a young buck, probably 2 or three years old judging by points on his antlers, which they happily ate, and smoked the left overs. They just used up the last of their salt to cure the venison when they finally made it to the mountains. From there, they could hopefully restock their supplies with they money they would get form the deer hide.

So they started climbing the mountain trails, chewing on some edible roots when they came up to an abandoned campsite. They were just about to inspect it when suddenly a knife was thrown at them. Some weird guy wearing a green vest and a black mask came into view. Ranma whispered to his father, "Let me handle this, they might be searching for you."

Genma nodded as Ranma slowly approached the stranger with her arms raised. "Nihoa," she said, just about exhausting her knowledge of Chinese. The man said nothing as he lunged at Ranma with another knife. Ranma easily caught his wrist and then shoved her knee up, breaking his hold on the knife. She didn't know what the hell this guy's problem was, but if he was going to rob her, she was going to be totally pissed! She looked over her shoulder to see her father facing off against two more guys. She could tell that her father was only playing with them, probably trying to figure out what style they were using. Oh well, she had her own playmate to handle. She ducked another swing with a knife. "Damnit, why is he carrying so many knives," Ranma absently wondered as she continued to dodge attack after attack. He then jumped up, trying to get an altitude advantage on Ranma. Ranma only grinned to herself as she also took to the air to fight. Aerial combat was a Saotome specialty after all, so Ranma took this as a direct challenge to her school.

Ranma was actually looking forward to another mid-air combat specialist, but the man just didn't know what he was doing up here. Probably thought he could use gravity toward his advantage, and when she took away that advantage, he just sort of crumbled up. Honestly, she just twisted in mid air and caught him by the shoulders and slammed him on the ground! An orange belt in Anything-Goes could have easily gotten out of that move. It was almost depressing! He started to make some weird signs with his hands. Ranma didn't really care what he was doing, so she took the opportunity to kick him in the face. As blood poured down from his nose, she quickly followed up with a round house kick to his temple. Ranma sighed, this guy was just no fun. One little tap and he just falls over.

Ranma was about to check to see how his father was doing when she suddenly felt dizzy. She looked down, and the world started to spin around on her, she was starting to loose her balance and she fell.

Ranma's head started to clear, though she was still a little bit dizzy. She looked around and saw her father as he was wiping out what seemed to be a guardless wakizashi, a single-edged knife, approximately 35 cm in length, on what seemed to be a young girl, probably no older then herself.

"Pop! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Saving your life, boy, be grateful that you have such a loving father who would do that for such a pathetic child as yourself," exclaimed Genma. "Now help me dispose of the body!"

"Don't give me that crap, you could have taken her easily, there was no reason to kill her, pop!"

Genma suddenly got a very tired look on his face, "I didn't know what else to do, boy, she used some sort of ki technique on you. She was going to kill you. This wasn't a sparring match, or one of your normal street fights or even competition. They were out for blood, boy. From here on out, we consider ourselves in hostile territory, got it? We take shifts at night, and we stay alert. Avoid the villages, and main roads and we should be fairly good."

Ranma nodded. For once his father was taking something seriously while using the serious voice. It was a rare occasion indeed. It was only then that Ranma noticed the amount of devastation around him. Small boulders that have been rendered to dust, trees that seemed to be ripped in half, and in a clearing that wasn't there earlier, was a mound of dirt, 3 ft in size. "What the fuck just happened, old man?"

"Oh, that," Genma asked in a nonchalant way.

"Yeah that! It looks like a bomb went off! What the hell happened anyway?"

Genma showed off another serious face, "Boy, like I said before, this was no street fight, whoever they were, were out for blood! At first, I was just wanted to see how strong they were, but in the end, I had to unseal the Yamasen-ken!"

"The Yamasen-ken, what is it?"

Genma got a somewhat proud, if still stern expression on his face, "The Yamasen-ken; it's an art I invented!"

"You? Invented? No way! How come this is the first time I'm hearing about this?"

"I deemed it too violent to be taught, so I sealed it away. However, these people… whoever they are… Ranma, you are my only son an heir, and I'll be damned if I let someone take that away from me! Who's going to take care of me when I finally retire?"

Ranma smacked his father across the head, "This is serious pop!"

"Of course this is serious! That is why I must also teach you the Umisen-ken!"

"The Umisen-ken?"

"Yes… The Umisen-ken and the Yamasen-ken are two sides of the same coin. They say that to master both is to have master a perfect art," exclaimed Genma.

Ranma narrowed her eyes, "… and who exactly ever said that?"

"Well, me of course," answered Genma, who just earned another smack from his son. Genma just shaked it off, "Ranma, before I teach you, the Saotome Schools, you have to promise me, you can only use the special moves of the Yamasen-ken and Umisen-ken only in dire situations! Although these arts are evil arts, they are arts meant to sustain life!" And so, Genma first instructs his son, Ranma, on the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Fighting: the Yamasen-ken and Umisen-ken. May kami have mercy on us all!

Author's notes:

Remember what I said about the Wizard and Oz and Freud and all that shit?

Forget about it. It'd just make things way too complicated.

Still looking for someone who can put in the time for pre-reading!


	4. Chapter 3 new

Disclaimer

I do not own Ranma ½, it is published by Viz Media, and is a work by Rumiko Takahashi.

Likewise, nor do I own Naruto, which is a work by Masashi Kishimoto, and also published by Viz Media.

**Stepping Stones: Chapter 3b**

**Witty title goes here**

"So, what do you think of the girl," asked the Third as Asuma entered the Hokage office.

"I think she's completely and utterly out of her mind," replied Asuma without even having to think about it. "She's also monstrously strong. She managed to tear apart one of the manacles during interrogation." Those manacles also happened to be chakra suppressant manacles. To be able to tear them apart was monstrous indeed.

"Did she attack you," asked the Hokage.

"No, she just wanted to… make a point. I also had her examined at the ANBU infirmary. She was apparently suffering from malnutrition, exposure, as well as her very first period, among other things."

"Her first period, you say," the Third Hokage asked with a smirk on his face.

"No! Absolutely no! We are not going into that!"

The Third Hokage was silent for a moment, when he asked Asuma seriously, "Do you think she is a threat to the village?"

"Honestly, no, despite her taijutsu skills, she doesn't really strike me as a trained shinobi. However, it might prove to be more of a liability if we just let her go on her merry way," answered Asuma.

"How so?"

Asuma was silent for a minute, he slowly took out a cigarette and lit it. After inhaling deeply, he answered, "Think about it, we have this young attractive girl, who has an insanely strong taijutsu background who has been pretty much been separated from the rest of society for most of her life while being raised by a panda. If that doesn't just beg someone to take advantage of her, I don't know what will. Can you imagine if the Stone Village got a hold of her, what about Mist or Lightning, or just about any other enemy you could think of? What if she attracts the attention of a missing-nin? Because of her skill, she'll be an open target for anybody. If we can keep her here, we can possibly get a new ally in her. Besides, she has to come from somewhere; they might still be looking for her. Best scenario, it might open up a trade agreement, or even a treaty."

"Worse case scenario, her village might be burned to the ground, and whoever did it might also still be looking for her," interrupted the Third Hokage.

"Oh, don't be such a pessimist. The possibility of either of those cases is highly unlikely. As long as we keep her in the village, we can keep an eye on her, and possibly get an operative out of it."

"How do you suppose we keep her in the village then?"

Asuma inhaled deeply on his cigarette, "Well, she said she's been wandering around training. I think the easiest way to keep her here is to offer her some training. If we also throw in an offer to help her find her way home, that just might close the deal."

"Not a bad idea, we could offer a reward for information that could help, assign it as an open D-ranked mission. That only leaves the question of her training. She is too old to enter the academy. Based on her taijutsu alone, she can be awarded a field rank of Genin, and be assigned to an already active team that needs to replace a member," said the Third Hokage.

The Hokage continued, "That might take some time to do. In the meantime, she's also going to need a place to stay," the Third Hokage said as a glint appeared in his eye. "She can stay with you for a couple of days until she can be assigned housing, and you can also help her with the basics until we can assign her to a team. You have plenty of room at home, after all, and you can get your students to help with her training. You can call it special training for their Chunnin exam if you want. After all, the best way to learn a lesson is to try to teach it," the hokage said as he laughed to himself.

Asuma sputtered, "wait, I don't think that"

The Third Hokage just handed him a couple of documents and said, "Here, these papers will release her into your custody. I've also nominated you as her sponsor for the village, so anything that would be relating to her will be sent directly to you. That will be all now!"

Asuma was quickly ushered out of the Hokage's office before he could offer up a protest. As the door shut behind him, he wondered to himself, just what the hell was he getting himself into?

Asuma went back to ANBU headquarters to check on the girl. She was conscious, but still a little bit loopy. He walked up to her bed where she was still being fed through a tube in her arm. She greeted him in that strange language again. Damn, the jutsu barely lasted three hours if she was back talking in her native tongue.

After performing the lexicon jutsu again, he asked her, "So, how are you feeling kid?"

"I'm fine," she said, "so, what's going to happen to me?"

"I don't know, but you can accept our offer to stay if you want," said Asuma.

"Stay? I think I need to find home first."

"We can actually help you there. As shinobi, we are trained in information gathering. Of course, we may not find it immediately, but we have a lot of operatives around. Someone is bound to find something out. Until then, you may stay here."

"Stay here? I don't know."

"You could train to a ninja if you want."

Ranma suddenly got a dark look on her face, "I'm a martial artist, not an assassin!"

"Being a shinobi is not just about killing people. Lower level ninjas mainly do chores around the village, though, you may also be asked to ask as a body guard or even to patrol once in a while. I won't lie to you though, death is a very real possibility. If you're afrai"

"I ain't afraid of nothin'," Ranma suddenly blurted out. "I'd gladly give my life for my art. But I ain't gonna kill no one with no reason!"

"Easy- easy. You probably won't even be here long enough for that to matter, but you do need someway of making a little money. From what I've seen, you're pretty good in a fight!"

"Hey! I'm more then just good in a fight! I'm great in a fight! If you didn't catch me after sparring with pops, I would have wiped your but all over the place!"

Asuma was sure she didn't mean it the way she said it, but decided that he could probably use that ego of hers to get what he wanted. "Now that I think of it, the life of a ninja is probably too dangerous for you. Maybe we should see if we could get you a job at a flower shop or something."

"J-job? F-flowershop?" Ranma sputtered.

"Yes, job, how else are you going to pay for Konohagakura's services?" Ranma responded with a confused look on her face. "We are a ninja village. This is how we make our living. You didn't expect us to help you find your way home for free, did you?"

"N-no…. of course not."

"You can stay at my place for a while if you want, but you'll be getting am apartment soon. How do you think you're going to pay for it?"

"A-apartment?"

"Yes, an apartment. Where else do you think you're going to live?"

"…"

"So anyway… I'll see about that job over at that flower shop," Asuma said as he started to get up.

"No, wait…"

Asuma sighed, the timing couldn't be worse, his students had the Chuunin exam in two days, and now he had to foster a complete stranger and her pet. He supposed he could get his students to make a pen or something for the animal, he had plenty of money after all. It was still early enough in the day so they should have it done in no time.

Asuma found Shikamaru easily, he was laying in a tree of his back yard watching the clouds float on by. He suddenly appeared on a branch near where Shikamaru was lying, who lazily glanced towards Asuma's way. "What is it, sensei," Shikamaru asked, with annoyance clearly visible in his voice.

"Gather the team, and meet at my place at 11 o'clock. There's a special D-ranked mission I have for you."

"Shouldn't we supposed to be training for the Chuunin exams or something? Why a mission so close to the exams, that seems highly irregular."

"Like I said, it's a special mission, it's got no time limit so we can actually get a little training done while we work on it," Asuma quickly added, a quick game of shogi or two shouldn't be too much of problem.

"What? Are you going to bring a shogi board on our missions now," muttered Shikamaru, with a slight grin on his face.

"Oh, just shut up and do as I say, you'll find out when you find out, alright?" With that, Asuma disappeared from view.

Asuma went quickly back to his house. It wasn't an official mission of course, so everything will be paid out of pocket. Asuma didn't really care though, he had plenty of money. Besides, there was no way he wanted that furball in his house.

In the meantime, he had to get the guest room ready for the girl.

Shikamaru found his sensei stringing off a rectangular area in his back yard. "Ok, I got the rest of the team, now, exactly what is this mission we have to do?"

"We have to make an animal pen," Asuma said simply, after checking his cross measurement.

"Planning on getting a pet I take it," asked Shikamaru, for some reason, he got this odd feeling in the bottom of his gut.

"Yeah, I'm planning on getting myself a panda," Asuma said with a mischievous grin.

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "Oh, hell no, you can't be serious!"

Ino just looked at Shikamaru, "Serious about what? What's going on?"

Choji glanced at Shikamaru, he knew Shikamaru would tell them.

"That girl we captured a couple of days ago, she's moving in, isn't she? Why the hell would you do a stupid thing like that?"

"As a loyal soldier of Konohamaru, we sometimes have to do things we don't want to do for the sake of the village, even if it means taking a stranger into your home for a couple of days," replied Asuma.

"If it's only for a couple of days, then why are we building an animal pen?"

"One: we are building an animal pen because, no matter how long she's going to stay here, she's still going to be a guest, and therefore her panda will also be a guest. And I don't want that thing stinking up my place. Two: I figured I could convert it into a storage place after they leave. Besides, I'm paying good money for this, never ask a client why if he's paying you good money!"

Shikamaru, sighed, "Fine, whatever. At least wait until after the exams if you expect us to build it for you."

Shikamaru was butted aside when Ino piped in, "Don't forget, Chuunins are extra!"

Asuma laughed, "Ok, fine, but we still have a lot of work to do. We're waiting on some supplies to arrive, in the meantime, I need some holes dug. So grab a shovel and start digging. I need the holes to be 75 cm down, 60 cm X 60 cm. Make sure the bottom of the holes are flat!"

Choji and Shikamaru both took off their shirts, if they were going to do some actual work, they can at least keep their shirts clean. "Hey! No fair! I don't want to mess up my ninja outfit either!"

"You could always take it off! I'm sure me and Choji won't mind," Skikamaru quipped. Shikamaru barely got the shovel handle up in time to block the thrown kunai.

Asuma just side. Kids. "Ino, I think I go find some shorts and a t-shirt in my spare room in one of the dressers. Konohamaru uses that room sometimes, and he likes to his close loose. You can use my shower afterwards if you want."

"Great! Thank's sensei," Ino called as she ran inside looking for something to wear.

"Bothersome girls," Shikamaru sighed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Asuma echoed Shikamaru as the boys got to work.

"So, exactly what is going on," asked Shikamaru, after waiting for Ino to return, wearing a yellow shirt and grey shorts that were almost too tight for her.

"It's exactly what you said. The girl's moving in."

"Yeah, but why?"

Asuma sighed, "It's complicated. It's been determined that, although she's not a threat to the village, she's a possible threat if she leaves. So, until we can get her a housing assignment, she's going to stay with me."

"How can she be a threat if she doesn't stay," wondered Ino.

"Well, she has a very effective taijutsu style. We were actually pretty lucky to get her down as fast as we did. It was also lucky that we were the first to find her. Can you imagine what would have happened if Stone-nin or Mist-nin got ahold of her? If they don't kill her first, they might try to convince her to teach them her style."

"What do we know about her already," asked Shikamaru.

"Not much, I'm afraid, her name is Ranma…" They continued to work as Asuma debriefed them on what he knew of the redhead.

They spent most of the day working on the panda-pen. The rest of team 10 had to wait in the lobby of ANBU headquarters, as they did not have the clearance to get any farther then that.

Manning the desk was a chuunin by the name of Ryuu. He was a tall boy wearing dull green pants, and a black t-shirt, his Konaho insignia was worn over his right temple. Unlike Mika, Ryuu didn't want to join the ANBU, but since his partner wanted to become one, he decided to help out at ANBU headquarters anyway. Ryuu never really wanted to become a shinobi anyway, it was just his family business, so he never really had a choice. He was a natural leader though, and he cared for his teammates, so he kept what he really wanted to do to himself, and never told his teammates his deepest desire.

"How long is it going to take Asuma-sensei to release this girl form custody, I'm getting hungry," complained Choji.

Just then, Asuma opens the door, follows by the girl, Ranma carrying that heavy pack of hers. "Come on guys, we probably should head over and pick up the panda form the Inuzuka compound."

Ino gave Shikamaru a nudge with her elbow, "What the hell was that for?"

"Shikamaru, don't be impolite! She's a guest of the village, why don't you ask her if you can carry her bag for her," whispered back Ino.

Shikamaru just grumbled about annoying females as he approached the red-headed girl, "Hey, you mind if I carry that bag for you?"

Ranma just looked at the guy with the spiky haired genin, "Naw, that's ok, though, if you have another hair tie, I could use one of those."

"Eh, I guess I could bring one tomorrow," said Shikamaru, who was about to turn around when he was shoved back by Ino. Shikamaru just gave Ino an evil look, which was returned by Ino. Ino, as it turns out, as an eviler look then Shikamaru does, so he just sighed and turned back to Ranma.

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry that for you."

Ranma takes a glance at Ino, and decides that, it might be in his best interest to let that guy carry her bags if he wants to, "Sure, knock yourself out," she said, as she slides the arm straps off her shoulders, and dropped it to the floor.

Shikamaru picked it up, or rather tried to pick it up, "Geez woman, what the hell are you packing in here anyway?"

Ranma was about to say something really rude, when someone beat her to it, "You were suppose to search her bags, you shouldn't need to ask her what she has in her bags," said Asuma.

Ranma was tired and hungry, "Let's just go pick up the panda already!"

"Yeah, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can eat," added Choji.

Ranma spares a glance at Choji, "You just read my mind, buddy!"

"Well, I guess we could stop for some bar-b-q before we pick up the panda!"

And everyone cheered.

Asuma, Ino, and Shikamaru all looked upon the sight of Ranma, and Choji battle over the bar-b-q with a look of astonishment, embarrassment, and annoyance, respectively.

From the start, it was like some sort of unspoken competition of who can eat the most the fastest. At some point, they started stealing food from each other. In the respect, Ranma had the upperhand. But the spirit of fire that had in spurned in very soul of Choji would not be silent. He would not lose this, he could not lose this- when all was on the line, Choji reached inside of himself, to a place that few have ever went before and came out alive, and desperately reached for the last spare rib, and put have of it in his mouth. He didn't realize that someone else also started eating that very same piece of spare rib, until he felt a soft, and sticky pair of lips touch his own.

Author's notes:

I wasn't planning on stopping this chapter here, but it just seemed a good place to stop!

This chapter does seem a bit unfinished to me, so I'll probably edit this chapter again before releasing a new chapter.

Still looking for readers, and thus this chapter is still labeled as "Draft"


	5. Chapter 4 new

Disclaimer

I do not own Ranma ½, it is published by Viz Media, and is a work by Rumiko Takahashi.

Likewise, nor do I own Naruto, which is a work by Masashi Kishimoto, and also published by Viz Media.

**Stepping Stones 4**

**Shopping Daze**

Ino was pisssed.

Two days! Two days before the chuunin exam, and what is her teacher doing.

Playing Go with a Panda!

"Sensei! Don't you think we should be… I don't know, training or something?"

Sensei didn't even spare them the glance to look up from that stupid Go board! "Yeah yeah… just head off to the back yard and I'll be with you after the game!"

"But Sensei," Ino started whining.

"There's nothing new I can teach you between now and the exam that would help anyway." Asuma looked up, "You each have the ability to pass this exam and achieve the rank of chuunin. All you really need is confidence in your own abilities! Besides, if you need any help on your taijutsu, you could probably ask Ranma. She's out in the back practicing." Asuma then looked back at the board, "Hey, I could have sworn I had a stone on 14, 5!"

"What a drag," muttered Shikamaru.

Ino just grabbed him by his shirt, "Come on you two, we can at least get something done!" There was no way that Ino wanted to have to do any training the day before the chuunin exam.

There she was, that red head again, in that dirty training outfit of hers. Well, if Ranma was going to stay here in Konha for a while, she might as well take the girl out shopping later! Maybe she'll be able to gleam some information that her sensei didn't get! Though, it looked like the girl was dancing rather then fighting.

She didn't let the gracefulness of her movements confuse her. No! She knew she was good. She didn't know how good she was but she knew she was good.

They waited until Ranma was finished before Ino decided to talk to the girl. "Excuse me, you're very good, we were, ummm.. wondering if you could help us train for a bit? We got that chuunin exam coming up soon, and we could really use some help!"

The redheaded girl just turned around and quirked an eyebrow. "We?"

Ino turned around, to look Shikamaru and Choji, only Shikamaru and Choji weren't behind her! They found a little spot on the grass to lie down and watch some more stupid clouds! They were clouds, for gods' sake! They were just about anywhere you went!

"Oh, um…" Ino turned around, to apologize for her teammate's rudeness, when she saw that Ranma had taken off her jacket, and was wiping the sweat from her brow. That is when Ino noticed something very very wrong!

"Come with me!" The blonde said suddenly, grabbing the wrist of Ranma and jetting her back into Asuma's house from the back door.

Ranma, for her part, just let the girl drag her off. Not really understanding why girls do the things they do.

"Ranma, are you alright?" Ino's face had an intense look to it.

"Umm, yeah, sure, why wouldn't everything be alright?"

Ino, just kinda glanced downwards, on a patch of blood soaked into her pants.

"Oh! You mean my minstrel blood? That doctor lady said it was perfectly natural for girls to bleed for 4 days a month," Ranma grumbled. She could have gone through most of her life without having to think about if it wasn't for her stupid father.

"You're menstrual period?"

Ranma diverted her eyes from Ino's gaze. "Yeah, I had my first one a couple of days ago."

"A couple of days ago? Why didn't you at least change your pants?"

"Oh, I would have, but I didn't really wanna do laundry yet, and most of them need to get sewn up as well. Besides, why change into something clean if I was going to work out and get it all dirty again?

Ino stared at the girl in total disbelief. Not even Shikamaru was this lazy to avoid doing a little housework. Did this girl not have any femininity at all?

"So, you have no clean clothes at all?"

"Well, I got some clean clothes, just not really anything that I'd want to work out in?" Ino got her hopes up. Maybe she owned a dress or something!

"Well, why don't you go get changed, and we can go out and get you some new clothes!"

Ranma was about to decline, but her eyes! Her eyes! Ranma didn't know what that expression in her eyes meant, but she knew immediately that she mustn't decline the girls invitation! "No thanks, umm.. I'd rather not!"

"Rather not? What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that… shopping is rather boring!"

"Just do it, alright, and wash yourself! You smell like Chouji's sandals!"

Ranma hung his head down, as he slowly walked over to the bathroom to take a shower. Ino, meanwhile stalked up to her sensei's porch, and gave sensei a piece of her mind. He should have at least made sure the poor girl has some clothes to wear!

/-/

Free at last!

Sure, Ranma had to employ his family's ultimate technique, but he finally got away! What's up with girls and shopping anyway? As long as something fit, it was all good! Why did he have to try on clothes after clothes, even when he found his size?

At least he escaped. He was still wearing the Mao suit, but he just couldn't take any more of that insanity.

So, Ranma was leisurely walking on top of a wooden fence, taking in the sights while munching on some pork buns that he scammed off some poor vender. "Yup, when cruising for some good eats, this girl body definitely has its uses! Ranma thought.

The village looked like many villages he's been in. Though most had dirt, brick, or paved roads, this one had these huge stone slabs. Ranma wondered briefly about the stone slabs, takes a lot of work to put these in.

"Hey You Fat Pig!" Ranma's thoughts were interrupted by some sort of cry. Ranma, being so bored as to actually take the moment to wonder about roads, decided this might be just the thing he needed to alleviate himself from said boredom!

Ranma rounded the corner of the fence, to see some kid dressed in black, holding some kid wearing a cape, while some kid in orange hollering at the kid in black.

"Heh, your annoying," said Kankuro, just as the pink-haired slut started holding back the runt. "Basically, I hate Midgets. Especially younger ones that are rude. Makes me want to kill them!"

"Oh well, I'm not involved," said his sister Temari.

"Well, after this one, I'll take care of that other annoying midget!" Kankaro pulled back his fist, and was about to slug the annoying runt, when he saw red hair.

"Shit! Shit shit shit shit… Gara! It's Gara," were the thoughts that passed through Kankuro's mind. But, Gara doesn"t have blue eyes! Not Gara!

With his initial surprise gone, Kankuro's anger returned. Who the hell would dare get in my way?

"Yo," said Ranma, sitting on top of Kankuro's head. "Don't you think that's enough, I find it hard to believe that the shrimp could defend himself from you. Just put the shrimp down. There's no way he can take you on!"

"Who you calling a shrimp," yelled out Konohamaru while still hanging from Kankuro's hand."

"I'm calling you a shrimp, shrimp! Now shut up and let the big people talk!"

"Hey! Don't call Konohamaru a shrimp," yelled out the kid in orange.

"You shut up too, you little runt," snapped Ranma, after shopping for nearly 3 hours, he needed to punch something.

"Hey! Don't call me a runt"

"Will you Get off My head," yelled Kankuro. "You're starting to piss me off!"

"Only starting?"

Kankuro tried to grab at Ranma in order to throw her off his head, but she easily evaded and flipped over Kankuro, twisting in mid-air so she would be facing him as she landed.

"I hate show-offs like you the most," growled Kankuro, as he grabbed something that was strapped to his back.

"Kankuro, stop it," said a voice from above, "You're an embarrassment to the village!"

"Ga-Gara."

Ranma looked over to where the voice came from, to see some guy standing upside down from a branch of a tree with some sort of gourd strapped to his back.

"Listen, Gara, they started it and…"

"Why do you think we came to the leaf villaged," asked Gara. "Lose yourself in a fight now, how pathetic. I'll kill you."

"Ok, sorry," said Kankuro, who was also mirrored by his sister with an apology.

Gaara glanced towards another tree, before settling his eyes on the other red-head. "Sorry to you guys," then sand started twirling around Gaara before reappearing infront of Ranma, in between Kankuro and Temari. Addressing his team mates, "It looks like we got here too early, but we didn't come here to play around!"

"I know that," said Kankuro, defensively.

"Let's go."

"Hey! Wait," said the pink haired kunoishi.

"What," said Gaara as he turned around.

"Judging by your head protectors, you guys are ninja from the Hidden Village of Sand, right? You may be allies with the Leaf, but it is forbidden for shinobis to enter each other villages without permission! State your purpose, depending on it, we may not be able to let you go!"

"Ha, talk about clueless," said Temari as she pulled out a badge. "Don't you know anything? You're right, we are genin from the Hidden Sand. We have come to your village to take the chuunin selection exam."

"Chuunin selection exam," asked Naruto.

"Ah… that blonde girl I was with earlier said something about it," said Ranma happily. "Though I wasn't really paying too much attention, its probably some sort of test or something!"

Temari just frowned at the two, "Geez, you really don't know anything, do you? The chuunin exam is where outstanding genin from the Sand, Leaf, and other neighboring villages assemble to take an exam to become chuunin!"

"Ahh, hence 'chuunin entrance exam,'" nodded Ranma wisely.

"Wait, but why do we take it together?"

"The main purpose is said to be to improve relations between the allies and to raise the shinobi level," continued Temari, "but also each country likes to maintain a power balance and…"

Temari was suddenly cut of by Naruto, "Hey, Konohamaru, you think I should enter this chuunin exam thingie?"

"You bastard," Temari screamed, "you asked the question, you can at least listen til the end!"

Gaara just glanced towards the trees, before turning back towards Temari. "We're leaving," he said, then he turned around and started walking away. Temari and Kankuro soon followed.

Ranma, like wise, was also about to make her own exit, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "That explains what they're doing here, but what about you? You don't have a head protector, what village are you from?"

"Well, you see," Ranma said flustered, trying to think of a good explanation.

"There you are," a voice from behind Ranma suddenly broke up the tension of a near fight. "I've been looking all over for you! Where did you go?"

"Oh, err.. well, you see…"

"Ino-Pig! You know this person," asked the girl with a big forehead.

Not knowing at the level of security that should be handled with the girl, Asuma-sensei never mentioned anything, but Ino would have to ask as soon as she got back, "Oh, she's a guest of Asuma-sensei, I was just out shopping with her when, um, she must have gotten lost or something!"

"Yeah! Lost! That's what happened to me! Then I saw this guy dressed in black harassing the shrimp and the runt!"

"How are you calling a runt," screamed Naruto.

"Actually, I was calling him a runt," Ranma said as she was pointing to Konahamaru, "I was calling you a shrimp!"

"Hey, I didn't you call me a shrimp last time," screamed Konahamaru.

"Yeah! You can't just switch insults like that! It's just, it's just…" Naruto said, struggling for the word that it was, "Wrong!"

Ranma was about to retort when he felt a hand grab him by the shoulder, "I still have to get you something to wear, and you have to be back at Asuma-sensei's place in less then an hour, remember?" Asuma mentioned to both Ranma and Ino that there was a time limit on the translation jutsu, after it wore off, he would have to perform the seals again in order for Ranma to communicate.

"Yeah, yeah, you're probably right," said Ranma, as she started walking away with Ino.

"Hey, Ino-pig! You still haven't explained anything!"

"I'll talk to you later, alright," she said, as she was rushing Ranma away from the group. Naruto was bad enough, she didn't want Ranma to pick up any of his bad habits!


End file.
